“Let’s finish galamseyers” – Vanderpuye demands ruthless action after Helicopter crash
The Coordinator of the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP), Nii Lante Vanderpuye, has made an emotional appeal for intensified action against illegal mining in the wake of the helicopter crash that claimed the lives of key government officials.
Speaking at a flower-laying ceremony on Friday, August 8, Vanderpuye said the best way to honour the fallen was to commit fully to ending galamsey.
“For the lives of these people, I would say we should go all out and finish these galamsey people. I will support any decision to go all out in this situation.
These people have sacrificed their lives for the sake of ending galamsey. If they’ve made that sacrifice for us as a country, we have no excuse but to end galamsey,” he stated.
The crash occurred on Wednesday, August 6, in the Adansi Akrofuom District of the Ashanti Region, involving a Ghana Armed Forces Z-9 helicopter reportedly en route to Obuasi before it went off radar.
Among the dead were Defence Minister Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator Muniru Mohammed, former parliamentary candidate Samuel Aboagye, and NDC Vice Chairman Samuel Sarpong.
The three-member flight crew — Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala, Flying Officer Manin Twum-Ampadu, and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah — also perished.
A state funeral has been scheduled for Friday, August 15. Due to the condition of the remains, samples have been sent to South Africa for DNA testing to confirm identities.
Vanderpuye, visibly moved, warned that the loss of such patriots should mark a turning point in the fight against environmental destruction.
“I wish I had the authority; it would be war. We can’t lose these people and still allow others to remain in the forests and rivers, destroying our environment,” he said.
